Number of fatalities' in shooting at H.S. in Parkland, Florida, senator says
BY ELIZABETH CHUCK, CORKY SIEMASZKO AND ANDREW BLANKSTEIN
A teenage gunman opened fire at a South Florida high school on Wednesday afternoon, killing at least one person and wounding several others, officials said.
The suspect, believed to be about 18 years old, is a former student at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, where there were at least 20 victims, Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel said.
It wasn't immediately clear how many of the victims were injured and how many had been killed. Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., citing Broward County officials, told NBC News that there were "a number of fatalities."
Florida school shooting suspect 'approximately 18 years old', sheriff says
"This is a really bad day," the senator said.
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What we know so far:
"At least 20 victims," according to officials, with at least one death
The shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland started around 2:30 p.m. ET on Wednesday
A suspect is in custody and is believed to be a former Douglas High student about 18 years old
Law enforcement sources later said there was "at least one fatality."
The suspect "was taken into custody about an hour after he left Stoneman Douglas after he committed this horrific, detestable act," Israel said. Federal and local authorities told NBC News there was no indication that the gunman had an accomplice or accomplices.
Parkland, in north Broward County, is about 30 miles northwest of Fort Lauderdale. The shooting on the sprawling campus happened despite the presence of police officers at the school.
Broward County schools Superintendent Robert Runcie said at last two police cars were typically on campus "on a daily basis."
Map locating Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida
While students filed out of the school with their hands up, heavily armed SWAT team members were doing a class-by-class search to make sure there were "no other shooters" — and to retrieve any bodies, he said.
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Israel, who said his triplets once attended that school, urged worried parents to head to a nearby Marriott hotel to collect their children.
"This is a terrible day for Broward County, the state of Florida, the United States," he said. "There really are no words."
Authorities detain possible suspect in school shooting
The first sign that something awful was happening came around 2:30 p.m., not long before classes were supposed to have been dismissed, when authorities were called to respond to an active shooter.
For more than an hour, the school was at the mercy of a gunman on the loose.
"He was outside and inside the school," Israel said.
Just after 4 p.m., the Broward County Sheriff's Office announced on Twitter that the suspect had been apprehended.
Not long after, stunned survivors began sharing their accounts of what happened.
"I was on the first floor of the building where the shots happened first," freshman Jason Snytte told NBC News. "I was in the classroom right next to the outside, the closest classroom to it. It started there. I heard six or seven shots. Our door was open. I ran and closed it, and everybody ran into a corner."
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Jason, who said the shots were deafening, said they listened to their teacher and stayed put until police arrived and told them to evacuate.
"We were all freaking out. Our hearts were racing," he said. "We didn’t know what was happening."
Image: Parkland, Florida, shooting
NBC Miami
Several students told NBC News that the school had gone through a fire drill earlier in the day. They said the fire alarm sounded again just before the shots were heard.
Relieved parents like Lisette Rozenblet, whose daughter attends the school, also said she was told that a fire alarm was pulled about the time the shots began. But her daughter's teacher, sensing that it might be a trap, told the students to stay in the classroom, she said.
"Her biggest fear is a school shooting," Rozenblet said of her daughter. "She is always begging me to be home-schooled because she was scared of this."
Parkland Mayor Christine Hunschofsky told NBC Miami that the school went into immediate lockdown.
"It's sad that these tragedies happen in our country," she said. "Many of the students have been in touch with their parents. We have many, many parents out here."
Florida student recounts school shooting
Joel Leffler, whose son and daughter attend the school, said both of his kids were safe — but in shock.
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"My son called me as it was unfolding, running. He had to jump a fence," Leffler said. "My son heard around eight gun shots as he was running out."
When he reached his daughter by phone, she was whispering, he said.
"My daughter, who was there in the freshman hall where the shooting took place — she's in shock right now, and she's being taken out by SWAT," Leffler said. "She saw multiple dead bodies."
Agents from the FBI's Miami Division were on the scene, along with agents from the Miami Division of the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
President Donald Trump was briefed on the incident and was monitoring the situation, White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said.
Florida Gov. Rick Scott, who was traveling to Broward County to be briefed by emergency management officials and law enforcement, has been in touch with Trump and the Department of Homeland Security, his office said.
Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., called it "that terrible day you pray never comes."
Image: Parkland, Florida, school shooting
